Canada’s Privacy Commissioner Audits Information Stored by FINTRAC
Canada’s Privacy Commissioner, Jennifer Stoddart, in a report released on November 17, 2009 on public sector privacy issues, highlights the potential for excessive reporting by FINTRAC of personal information.
FINTRAC is the acronym for the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, an independent agency created to assist in the tracking of the proceeds of crime and the financing of terrorist activities. Under the governing legislation, a range of businesses including banks, accountants, foreign exchange dealers and other financial institutions, have reporting obligations relating to sizeable or suspicious transactions.
However, the Privacy Commissioner is concerned that collecting reports about possible suspicious transactions (67,740 were reported in 2008) without any clear evidence that an offence has occurred, could pose a serious risk to the individuals whose data has been collected – especially if such information were to be shared with the RCMP or other police forces.
There is little in the way of guidance for the financial institutions to rely on and, as a result, says the Privacy Commissioner, there is a danger of over-reporting and over-collection of data, enhanced by the fact that the penalties for non-reporting are significant.
For a news report from The Globe and Mail, see:
For the news release dated November 17, 2009 from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, visit:
http://www.priv.gc.ca/media/nr-c/2009/nr-c_091117_e.cfm
For the text of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (SC 2000, c 17), visit:
http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/stat/sc-2000-c-17/latest/sc-2000-c-17.html
Summary by: The Editor
